RIM: BlackBerry 10 is fine, delays are down to chip ship slip
RIM has strenuously denied that hiccups in development are delaying the launch of phones based on its new OS, citing chip deliveries as the problem.
In an explicit statement RIM's CEO Mike Lazaridis says the Boy Genius Report blog, reporting problems with the upcoming BlackBerry 10* OS, is "inaccurate and uninformed". He then reiterates that delays to the launch of handsets using Blackberry 10 are caused by RIM's decision to wait for a dual-core processor with integrated LTE (4G), rather than any problems getting the software working.
The accusation that things were not well with the software was posted here, citing an inside source from RIM. The blog recognises the seriousness of the accusation, but claims the information comes from "one of our most trusted sources" and that it spells the end for RIM. Read more...
Oracle gooses Studio compilers for Solaris, Linux
Having cranking Solaris Unix up to 11, software giant Oracle has now revved up a new companion set of compilers that work with the new operating system as well as the current Oracle Linux clone of Red Hat's Enterprise Linux.
The Solaris Studio 12.3 C, C++, and Fortran compilers might bear the Solaris brand and they may have their heritage on the many different platforms that Forte Software originally supported – a company that Sun Microsystems acquired for $540m back in August 1999 – but the Solaris Studio set spans Sparc T and M series processors as well as earlier Sparc iron running Solaris 10 or 11, and various x86 platforms running Solaris 10 or 11, Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 and 6, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6.
The Studio integrated development environment has two pieces: a code compiler suite and a code analysis suite. Read more...
Microsoft Prepares Windows 8 for Battle Against the iPad
Microsoft is set to unveil the next-generation of Windows tomorrow. The new operating system, currently known as Windows 8, is the tech giant's attempt to regain ground that it has lost to Apple, which surpassed Microsoft last year as the world's most valuable company. It isn't the MacBook or Mac OS X Lion that has Microsoft executives worried, though. It's the sheer dominance of the iPad.
The iPad hasn't skipped a beat since its debut last year. Thanks to Apple's ingenuity, a shockingly low starting price and a strong marketing campaign, the device has sold more than 25 million units in less than a year-and-a-half. More importantly, it has defined a whole new category of consumer devices. And it dominates that category with an iron fist.
iPad competitors have come and gone, but none have been able to make a dent in the iPad's rapid growth. HP has given up on the TouchPad, the RIM Playbook has underperformed and countless Android tablets have fallen by the wayside. Nothing has emerged as the alternative to the iPad. Read more...